The Premier League appointed a former investment banker who proposed the idea
of BSkyB buying Manchester United as its chairman yesterday.

Anthony Fry, 57, unanimously backed by the 20 clubs as successor to Sir Dave
Richards, pitched the idea to the BSkyB board in 1998, when he was running
Credit Suisse First Boston’s (CSFB) media practice, only to discover that it
was already working on it with Goldman Sachs, a rival bank.

CSFB was appointed broker on the deal, which was ultimately blocked by the
monopolies regulator in 1999. Fry’s little-known connection to the doomed
£625 million takeover will add